1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to safety devices, and in particular to car catcher devices which are mounted to the rear of an elevated vehicle such as a truck to prevent the automobile or other vehicles from passing under an elevated truck chassis, flatbed or other structure which protrudes rearwardly beyond the rear wheels of the truck. More particularly, the present invention relates to such a car catcher device embodying a construction to prevent, in the operative position, movement to an inoperative position except at the will of the operator during necessary truck loading and off-loading operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Car catcher devices designated for the aforementioned purposes are known in the art. These devices are generally formed as a frame-like structure which is mounted, sometimes removably, to the rearwardly-protruding truck structure so as to downwardly depend therefrom. A portion of the frame-like structure is positioned at an elevation to receive impact from the front end of an automobile during a rear-end collision between the automobile and the truck.
Such devices function with great reliability when mounted to stationary truck structure which is always maintained in a generally horizontal and elevated position. However, the car catcher becomes nuisance when mounted to rearwardly-protruding truck structure which is capable of, and intended to be, periodically downwardly lowered to a position at or near ground level, such as, for example, the pivotable roll-off hoist structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,349. If used on such pivotable hoist structure, a permanently mounted car catcher would be an extreme hindrance since it would severely limit the downward pivotability of the protruding hoist structure.
As an alternative, detachable car catchers could be mounted to such downwardly pivotable structures. However, a removable car catcher must first be detached before the protruding structure is pivoted downwardly and then must be reattached when the protruding structure is pivoted upwardly into its normal roadway transport position. For obvious reasons, such detachment and reattachment of the car catcher becomes a bothersome if not laborious task each time the pivotable structure is to be placed into service.
In our U.S. Pat. No. 4,988,258 there is disclosed a car catcher frame pivotally supported at the rear of a roll-off hoist for movement in an operative position established by the length of two chains to an inoperative position. It is disclosed to ensure that the catcher frame can only pivotally elevate from a lowered operative position at the will of the operator and not at other times, for example, on impact with an automobile that would otherwise defeat the purpose of the catcher. In this regard, while believed unlikely, the front bumper of a car colliding with the rear of the truck might jam beneath the cross bar of the car catcher in such a way that circumstances could allow further penetration by the car due to a raising of the catcher by a wedging action of the front part of the car between the roadway and the car catcher. The present inventions seeks to avoid such a possibility of involuntary lifting of the car catcher in an efficient and cost effective way.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved car catcher that is pivotally supported and latched in an operative position in a rearwardly extending part of a truck which protrudes rearward of the rear wheels and unlatched synchronous with movement of the car catcher to an inoperative position under the control of an operator.